Made an effort at Basket Weave and Geometric Tooling: Critique, tips, hints please!

[YinTx]

So I finally got the nerve together to try my hand at basket weave stamping and geometric stamping this week.  Please take a look and let me know where I can improve - I see my errors as I made them, but since I've never actually sat with someone that does this, I don't know all the errors or how to do things better!  Like, how to go smoothly around corners....how to make sure my swivel knife doesn't wander on it's own and wreck things from the get go... etc...

The geometric weave pattern was the first one, the basket weave I just finished up an hour or so ago.. the one dyed and antiqued was a fairly rough piece of leather to start out with, and I had a heck of a time with the Angelus Black Acrylic antique:  I had to scrub it off with a water soaked rag, despite 3 coats of Resolene as a resist!  I could use some pointers there as well..

 

YinTx

 

[Sofaspud]

You're basket weave looks pretty good to me, nice and straight. It looks like you're depth is a little uneven in some areas, something I struggle with too.

On the antiqued piece I love the colors you got.  You said you struggled with it, I  think you won. What was your base color?

[Mattsbagger]

Haven't done a lot of stamping but. 2 things I've found. HO or W/C will take a stamp much easier than Tandy or the like. Also the actual stamp needs to be of good quality too. Some of the cheap stamps leave a muddy impression even on good leather.

[YinTx]

This was Tandy leather, I practiced on some rough pieces that had scars, etc.  This may have had an effect on the depth, but for sure I was not even in tapping the tool!  I suspect practice, practice, practice will help that.  When I get comfortable with my quality, I'll break out some W&C and H.O. to see how it goes.

The stamps were mostly Craftool.  I have some Korean and Japanese stamps too, not sure if I used one of them, I'll check later.

Base color on the antiqued piece was red.  When I put the antique on, it did not come off at all, even though I did not leave it on any length of time - literally wiped it on, tried to wipe it off!  It didn't budge, as if I had not even used a resist.  I got a wet rag right away and scrubbed it off to get what you see.

The un-dyed piece was still damp from stamping...

I have hundreds of stamps, some older than others.  None fancy.  If I really get into this style, I may pick up a nice stamp or two...or three... or...I'll keep my eyes on the classifieds.

Thanks for commenting!

YinTx

[AZNightwolf]

I like the clamshell work on the border of the red one. It all looks solid to me.

 

The blank spot around the flag stands out a little to me.

[YinTx]

AZNightwolf,

Thanks for that.  I liked the effect of the border, but I really struggled to keep it even and go around corners, so I ditched it on the second effort.  I thought folks might bash it a bit in comments, so I appreciate the complement.    

Blank spot bugged me on the first one also, so I tightened it up a bit towards the edges on the second.  Got it a bit too close on the right side, but at least it looked a little better.

YinTx

[JLSleather]

The basket stamp looks purdy durn strate.  But, honestly -- yer an intelligent guy -- so you know already, you can't learn the RIGHT way to play throw a baseball with a tennis ball. Looks about the same size, but you'll get used to doing it that way, then when you "step up" to the baseball, it won't feel right.  

Not all practice is good practice.  The stamping will come along - you have the ability.  Meanwhile, I certainly really really would recommend you get some decent leather and learn how it SHOULD go, right from the start.  

IN THE US, teh difference in price between the good stuff, and the tandy stuff, isn't much (in fact, direct from Hermann Oak is as a rule less than some crap).  Not sure what border crossings do to the cost these days.

 

 

[YinTx]

JLS, thanks for the comments, and I agree 100%.  However, I had some crappy leather, with no other use, and I absolutely butchered it with no regard to the resulting waste, and I am trying to learn the dye/resist/antique process, so things are going in the bin when I am done.  The bottom panel is actually the third effort with a basket weave stamp.  First one is in the bin.  Second is awaiting resist and antique.  After I dye and resist and antique, the second and third may follow the first into the bin.

I have both the W&C and the H.O., in several thicknesses, and they are great leathers.  Won't be long before I won't feel like I would be butchering it, so I'll be stamping it.  At which point, I'll probably be looking for really good stamps.

Sadly, someone saw my crappy work in the bin.. and asked if I'd do a basketweave purse!  Not sure how I'm going to do that....next time I need to chop it up lol!

YinTx

[billybopp]

Try some Angelus finish as a resist instead of resolene.

[YinTx]

Billybopp,

I have some Angelus High Gloss 610 Acrylic Finisher that I tried on a sample, underneath the Black Angelus Acrylic antique, with poor results.  Is there a different Angelus product I should have used?

YinTx